


Magi Comes With A Price

by Vixenofthemist



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: AU, F/M, I'll add more tags later, Magic, chapter titles are just for fun and are loosely related to something that happens in the chapter, magic quartet plus Alfred are main characters, some 2P Hetalia, some Nyotalia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 00:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11302113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixenofthemist/pseuds/Vixenofthemist
Summary: Natalia could always sense magic, ever since she was born. But she's kept quiet about it since magic is feared in their country of Nordama. But when Leader Gilbert Beilschmidt disappears overnight and no evidence to what happened to him is found, Natalia is called by Alfred Jones to help discover if magic took Gilbert in the night.Along the way, Natalia meets Vladimir, a charming friend of Leader Arthur Kirkland sent to help them uncover just what happened to Gilbert. Natalia doesn't trust him one bit, as he reeks of magic that Natalia has never felt before. She knows there's more then meets the eye when it comes to Vladimir, and she keeps more then a close eye on him to ensure he doesn't do anything suspicious.Determined to find Gilbert, Natalia is willing to go to some drastic measures, even if it means working with the magic users she so distrusts. But, what just started as a mere search for Gilbert, turns into a much more dangerous and magic filled prophecy that Natalia feels more then conflicted about.





	1. Natalia Would Rather Finish her Book

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter done woohoo! so excited for this to post <3 First ever chapter fanfic so if there are any mistakes please let me know!
> 
> ///Cross posted on tumblr-->http://vixenofthemist.tumblr.com/post/161877434544/magic-comes-with-a-price-chapter-1

_-THE TALES OF CIGAM, Introduction-_

_“The country of Cigam was a powerful country, filled with magic and great warriors. Many faced this magnificent country, but all failed. So strong were its mages and warriors that some armies never even made it across the borders before falling. The land itself was ridden with snow and rain and oft covered in a deep mist, but filled with caves full of gems and jewels, so rich was this land that neighboring kings yearned to get their hands on this bountiful yet mysterious land. But with each failed attempt of conquering this land, more land was added to this country’s growing wealth. The royal line of this country used to be pure, but tis know corrupt and filled with pride and greed. The first king,_ _Aengus, was said to fear no man or beast as none would harm him, which was true, as everything feared him. His legacy fears nothing as well, as they believed nothing can or will harm them. The fourth king of Cigam got too greedy and tried conquering the wrong land, the land of Stellaria. Stellaria was a peaceful land next to Cigam’s borders, but had been long left alone as they provided Cigam with teaching of how to control the wild magic that coursed through their land. Stellaria was filled with masters of magic, and the world renowned seer Nostradamus was born in that country, and he predicted what would cause the Great Fall of Cigam, and what would bring it back to its glory. It was a simple prophecy that he wrote days before his apothecary was overrun by Cigam soldiers who he knew would kill him. The prophecy was found and brought before the king, who was filled with rage and fear._

_The Prophecy read as such:_

_During a yearlong wint-”_

“Natalia, are you reading that dusty old book again?”

Natalia Arlovskaya shut her eyes and pursed her lips tightly as her elder sister Ekaterina interrupted her during the best part of the book. Ekaterina waltzed up happily to Natalia and sat down next to her on the couch.

“You’ve always really liked that book haven’t you Natalia? I remember when you were a little girl you would always demand for me to either read that book or that book about that family who were really weird and dark!”

Ekaterina started rambling about Natalia’s childhood favorite stories, which Natalia tuned out as she sourly closed “ _Tales of Cigam_ ”. It would be useless to try and read it with Ekaterina here. Not only had she interrupted during the best part, it was also the part that really immersed Natalia in the book, and now to get fully re-immersed in it again she would have to read the page all over! Ekaterina, oblivious to having interrupted Natalia’s reading time, got up and walked over to a shelf and pulled out the book she was talking about. The cover was black and had an iron spine, it looked less like a children’s book and more like a forbidden spell book, but the contents were made for children like Natalia had been.

“-And your favorite part was when they went to a family reunion, and an aunt asked what the daughter was interested in, and when the mom said homicide you would giggle so much that you would fall off your chair!!”

“Yes yes, I was an adorable child. Is there a reason you came in here Ekaterina?”

Ekaterina paused in talking for a moment, sliding the book back into its place as she thought of why she came down. Natalia sat patiently, Ekaterina often got caught up when something reminded her of their childhood, it was a happier time that Ekaterina held close to her heart, which Natalia couldn’t blame her. It took a minute for Ekaterina to remember, during which Natalia found herself watching specks of dust fall against the torch light, until Ekaterina spun around excitedly and clapped her hands together.

“Know I remember!”

Walking towards her, Ekaterina pulled Natalia off the couch and started straightening her dress.

“Alfred is here, and he says he needs to talk to you about something urgent!”

Natalia raised an eyebrow as Ekaterina smoothed out a crease in her dress, there was no reason for Ekaterina to act this way when it was just Alfred, Natalia has known him since she was a little girl and very much doubted he would care if her dress was rumpled. As Ekaterina moved to fussing with Natalia’s hair, Natalia voiced her question.

“Why are you fussing over my clothes Ekaterina? It’s just Alfred.”

Ekaterina shook her head excitedly, she had a glimmer of something in her eyes, which Natalia wasn’t sure she was a fan of.

“It won’t be just Alfred for long! He has an acquaintance of Mr. Arthur coming to this house, and I want you to look presentable in case he’s a person of high standing, first impressions are everything for some, and I want you to make a good impression on people!”

Natalia allowed a small smile to ghost her lips as Ekaterina fixed her bow.

“So, you want them to at least have a good impression on how I dress then?”

Ekaterina rolled her eyes and laughed as she took a step back and observed Natalia, making sure nothing was out of place.

“Oh shush Natalia! You have a wonderful personality! It just takes a while for it to come out!”

It was Natalia’s turn to roll her eyes, she knew very well how her personality was perceived by people, but it was nice for Ekaterina to try and convince her otherwise.

“Well, Ekaterina, do you deem me presentable?”

Natalia raised her arms and did a small spin as she asked Ekaterina, Ekaterina clapped her hands excitedly and nodded her head. She reached forward and grabbed Natalia’s hands, and gave her such a heartwarming smile that Natalia felt like a little girl again, asking Ekaterina if her attempt at putting on make-up looked good.

“You look amazing! Beautiful as always!”

Ekaterina’s smile turned a little sad, and Natalia frowned, did Ekaterina know something that she didn’t? But before she could ask, Ekaterina put on a bright smile again and dropped one of Natalia’s hands as she started walking towards the door, pulling Natalia gently behind her.

“Come on! We’ve kept Alfred waiting long enough!”

Natalia stared at the back of Ekaterina’s head, trying to figure out just what she had been sad about moments before, but she decided to put that issue at the back of her mind. She could interrogate Ekaterina about it later, for now, Alfred was here to annoy her most likely.

As they walked up the spiraling staircase that lead from the basement library to a hallway, Natalia asked Ekaterina a question.

“Ekaterina, where exactly is Alfred? He usually would come and bother me himself, it’s weird for him to have you come fetch me.”

“Oh, he’s trying to be professional since he’s here for Leader business, he even corrected himself when he only called me Ekaterina, insisting on calling me “Miss Ekaterina”! It’s adorable really.”

She paused in talking as she opened the door to the fourth hallway, she greeted a passing maid and didn’t continue her and Natalia’s conversation until they were continuing down the hallway.

“And Alfred is waiting in the parlor, he is really trying so hard to be formal. When I first suggested waiting in the living room, he said it was to none formal for the serious business he was here for!”

A maid scurrying past in the opposite direction stopped and called out to Ekaterina.

“Uh, Miss Ekaterina?”

Natalia turned and gave the maid a critical once over, while Ekaterina gave her a kind smile.

“Yes? Is something the matter?”

The maid gulped nervously under Natalia’s gaze, but pointed timidly down the hallway towards the parlor.

“I, uh, it’s probably not in my place to tell you this… But I was just in Madame Anya’s office, and she said she was heading to the parlor soon to relax…”

Natalia and Ekaterina shared a brief look of shock, before bolting down the hallway towards the parlor, Ekaterina throwing a quick thank you towards the maid. Anya was never Alfred’s biggest fan, and if she went to the parlor to relax and ran into Alfred… it wouldn’t end well. Natalia ran ahead of Ekaterina, and made it to the parlor first. She slammed the door open, and was greeted by a surprised Alfred, his face quickly changed from surprised to suspiciously guilty however, and Natalia narrowed her eyes as she saw he was standing in front of their ancestral display case. She marched into the room with her hands on her hips and murder in her eyes.

“I swear if you even laid a finger on the glass on that case, I will murder you Alfred!”

He threw his hands up in the air and threw her a nervous grin.

“Hello to you to Natalia! Good news! I didn’t touch the glass, I only touched the wood trimmings!”

Natalia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before stepping forward. She heard Alfred take a step back and start rambling on and on about how she said she’d only murder him if he touched the glass, so he was safe BECAUSE he only touched the wood. Before Natalia could walk even more towards him, the door was thrown open again, and Anya strode in looking eerily calm. Alfred immediately stopped his ramblings, and Natalia opened her eyes and straightened up, Ekaterina came panting behind Anya, clearly out of breath and a worried look on her red face. It was silent in the room for a good minute, before Anya smiled almost cheerfully at Alfred.

“Good afternoon Alfred. I don’t remember inviting you to come here, so why are you in my house right now?”

Her voice was calm, maybe perhaps even cheerful, but with a cold and threatening undertone that none of them missed. Alfred straightened himself up to his full height and stuck his hands back into his pockets, and gave Anya a big, cheerful smile.

“Afternoon Anya! It will surprise you, but I am not actually here to see you, even though I am on Leader business.”

He strode forward and clasped Natalia on her shoulder, ignoring how she immediately shrugged it off and the glare she was throwing at him.

“I was asked by Arthur, whose both of our superior Anya, to see if Natalia would help me with something.”

Anya took a step forward, and gestured at a seat. The smile seemed to be plastered on both her and Alfred’s face.

“Well, if you are here because of something Arthur asked of you I cannot hold it against you. Please, sit down Alfred. You must be tired from the trip here.”

Alfred grinned and tipped his hat to her.

“Much obliged Anya.”

He took his seat and made himself comfortable, and Anya sat down across from him. She gestured for Natalia to take a seat as well, and so Natalia sat next to her on the plush couch.

“Won’t you join us as well Miss Ekaterina?”

Alfred called out to Ekaterina who was still standing in the doorway. She shook her head and smiled nervously at him and Anya. Natalia felt bad for Ekaterina, she knew how much Ekaterina disliked being in the same room as both of them, the atmosphere that they let out made Ekaterina insanely uncomfortable.

“N-no thank you Alfred, I think I’ll go fetch some tea or coffee to drink.”

“What a good idea Ekaterina, Alfred here must be incredibly thirsty from his long, odious trip. I’m sure he’d be most thankful for some _tea_.”

Anya put some hard emphasis on tea, and Alfred made a face to show his distaste in tea. Ekaterina squeaked out that she was going to make a kettle of both, then ran away. Natalia let a small sigh slip out. This was going to be a weird meeting. It was silent for a solid four minutes, with Anya and Alfred holding what appeared to be a staring contest. After five minutes, however, Alfred crossed his legs casually and turned to Natalia.

“So, Natalia! I need to talk to you about something very important…”

He turned and gave a meaningful look at Anya.

“Alone.”

Silence followed his words. If Anya hadn’t been fake smiling before, she was now. The atmosphere in the room went from calm annoyance to concealed hostility in a blink of an eye. Anya sat up fast and opened her mouth, but Natalia beat her to talking.

“why can’t Anya stay? She’s a village Leader just as you are, and if I’m involved why can’t she be?”

Natalia had actually stood up, her face set into a deep scowl. Anya was being very nice to him compared to some of his other visits, and for him to be so mean to kick her out of her own parlor was something Natalia wasn’t going to stand for. Alfred, gestured for her to calm down.

“Calm down Nat, I’m not asking Anya politely to leave just because I want to, but because I was told not to get her involved.”

He turned and smiled good naturedly at Anya, who was giving him an interesting look with her head tilted slightly to the side, a smile no longer on her face as she studied him.

“No hard feelings Anya, but I was told by Arthur to not involve anyone but the person I chose to help me. If it bothers you so to not hear my awesome voice explain things, then I have plenty of Leader things I could talk to you about… After me and Natalia finish our meeting.”

Natalia watched as Anya and Alfred stared at each other, Alfred smiling kindly and Anya looking at him almost confused. After 30 seconds of staring, Anya closed her eyes and returned the kind smile at Alfred.

“I think I’ll go help Ekaterina with the tea. Be good you two, and Alfred... Don’t take up too much of my dear little sister’s time.”

And with that faintly concealed threat, she swept out of the room in a flurry of pink.

                                -----------------------------------------------------------------

“…Well, since I don’t want Anya to murder me in my sleep, let’s hurry this up!”

Alfred rubbed his hands together excitedly before gesturing Natalia back into her seat. Natalia did so slowly, squinting suspiciously at him. He was acting fairly usual, but something seemed…. Off. She couldn’t place her finger on it, but she knew something was different.

“So, I’ll get straight to it!” Alfred leaned forward, a more serious expression on his face. Natalia felt her curiosity rise with this gesture, along with a tiny bit of excitement. But what Alfred said next did nothing more but make her more curious.

“Do you remember when we were young, and you would scare me by saying you could see ghosts?”

Natalia’s face grew confused. Of course she remembered, but it was such a strange thing to bring up that she couldn’t help but feel a little taken aback.

“Yes. I remember clearly.”

“And do you…. still sometimes see ghosts?”

Natalia couldn’t help herself.

“Yes. I see one right now, behind your left shoulder.”

As she knew he would, he instinctively looked over his shoulder, ducking down slightly as if a ghostly hand was about to reach out and attack him. When he saw nothing there, he turned back with an expression between trying to be annoyed and serious. Natalia couldn’t help but smile slightly, she of course saw no ghost behind his shoulder, she hadn’t seen a ghost in ages, but she couldn’t let this opportunity to scare Alfred pass.

“I’m being serious Natalia! Now isn’t the time for joking! Do you still… sense ghosts or anything similar nowadays?”

The serious tone of Alfred’s voice threw her off, she had seen him be serious before, but usually something like that would have made it slip and he would demand for Natalia to tell him where the ghost was for the next five minutes until he was sure it wasn’t going to attack him. Feeling her eyes widen slightly, Natalia realized this was more serious then she had first thought. She went through recent memory, trying to remember the last time she had felt that tiny jolt of magic that she would occasionally feel, and came upon an exact date.

“Two months ago on the fifteenth, I felt… something.” Natalia dared not say magic, such a tabooed word shouldn’t be uttered in such a sacred place of her family.

“It was in the middle of the night, it was such a strong feeling that it woke me up… I felt nauseous for the rest of the day.”

Alfred seemed almost… relieved at her answer. He moved back slightly on the couch, and seemed to ease up a little, the serious expression not leaving his face.

“Natalia, do you remember what happened on the fifteenth two months ago?” Natalia shook her head, Alfred licked his lips, suddenly looking pensive.

“The very next day, on the sixteenth, was the day that Gilbert was found missing. The leading theory is that someone, or something, took him in the middle of the night.”

Natalia felt her hair start to stand on end, and her eyes widened. Alfred couldn’t be insinuating… could he?

“You don’t mean…” Natalia couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence, to do so she would have to say magic, and she’d rather not say the name of the very thing that killed her parents.                           

Alfred sat up a grim expression on his face.

“We believe that Gilbert was taken by magic users, and I am here to ask you if you will help me track them down.”

Natalia knew the dangers, she perhaps knew better than anyone else. She had never met one, but she had felt their magic, felt it pulse through her veins, felt just how terrifying they could be. Yet she found herself looking Alfred straight in the eyes and without hesitation saying;

“I’m in.”

Alfred Beamed at her.

  -----------------

Alfred’s explanation had been brief, and mainly consisted of how they were going to meet up with an acquaintance of Arthur who could sense magic like Natalia, and once they meet up he would tell them more. Though Natalia had felt this explanation was lack luster and she craved more details -especially about this person- she decided that she really couldn’t expect more from Alfred. They left soon after that, Natalia felt horrible for only being able to give an even briefer explanation to her sisters then Alfred had given to her, but the mission she was going on was top secret and Alfred had made her swear not to tell anyone. So, her sisters had no choice but to accept the bad, but not untrue, explanation of “He needs my help. Going to be gone for a couple weeks. Will write.”

Something Natalia was glad had been brief was Alfred and Anya’s interactions with each other. They had both been all smiles, and when they spoke you could clearly hear the sarcasm and fake sweetness dripping off every word.  And Natalia was sure that if they hadn’t needed to go, Alfred really would have stayed for at least another hour to annoy Anya. (If Natalia didn’t know better, she would have thought they both found talking to each other amusing).

But now they were out of the mansion and on the long horse ride to the village of Beilschmidt, where this mysterious person they were supposed to meet was waiting.

About five minutes from the village, Natalia finally asked the question she expected Alfred to have answered by now.

“Just what is the name of this man we are meeting?”

Alfred threw her a cheerful smile.

“No idea!”

Natalia stopped her horse, looking at Alfred in disbelief. How in the heavens could he not know the name of the man they were supposed to find?! And in one of the largest villages she might add!

“Do you know what he looks like at least?” Natalia hoped within hope he at least knew that. But to her disbelief, Alfred shook his head far to cheerily.

“Nope, don’t know what he looks like! But don’t worry, Arthur said he would know how to find us!”

Natalia stared at Alfred for a good long while. Trying so hard to comprehend just how he could be told to go meet a man, and then get no further information about him! Perhaps Alfred could live with just being told the man would find them, but Natalia didn’t know who this strange man was and didn’t trust him to just find them, nor did she fancy the idea that Arthur had told this man what she looked like.

“Do you know anything about this man?!” Natalia asked semi-desperately, and when Alfred shook his head “no” she wanted to take her boot off and throwing it at him.

“I wasn’t told his name nor what he looked like, but Arthur reassured me multiple times that this acquaintance will find us!”

Alfred threw a relaxed grin at her.

“Don’t worry so much Nat! Arthur said something about him being able to sense you, so I’m sure he’ll find us!”

Natalia stared at Alfred in almost anger, this man could SENSE her?? And she was supposed to be fine with that? Well, she wasn’t.  But as Alfred urged his horse to continue forward, Natalia realized that they didn’t have any other choice, they just had to have blind faith in this random, strange person that Arthur had such faith in.

Begrudgingly, Natalia continued her horse forward after Alfred, and she hoped he could feel the frustration she was sending in each of her routinely sent glares.

 

They were finally in Beilschmidt, and Natalia felt Alfred was far too at ease not knowing when this person was going to show up, but he assured her that they shouldn’t worry about that and should continue searching for things on their own until he showed up.

“ _Arthur said he had some things to do before he would come meet us, so we shouldn’t wait for him!”_

 Making their way towards Gilbert’s house was easy, as Natalia was visible frustrated at this point and people were hurrying out of her way, praying they were doing it fast enough to not catch sight of her glares. They arrived at the house quickly, and Natalia and Alfred both paused to take in the sight solemnly. It was a painted tan stone with a wooden shilling roof, windows lined with plant boxes that gave a natural warmth to it that made Natalia think vaguely of how her own home made her feel; safe and warm. At being only two stories, it was perhaps the most modest Leader’s home that Natalia had ever seen, though she knew that had only been half Gilberts idea to make it so modest and sensible. The yard was well taken care of, with a garden flourishing along the side of the house and running out of sight into the backyard. And though smoke bloomed from the brick fireplace giving it a complete homely feel, there was an emptiness. Something was out of place, and Natalia knew exactly what it was. There was no Gilbert striding up to them across the lawn, a confident smile on his face and a laugh on his lips, he wasn’t there to usher them inside to look at whatever new thing he had built or to brag about how well his garden and animals were doing. No, he wasn’t there to greet them. Since two months ago he had disappeared with no trace, Natalia shivered slightly at the memory of receiving that awful news. Ekaterina had fainted from the shock, and Natalia had barely been able to register just what she had been told. Gilbert had been one of the most important leaders, being the leader of Beilschmidt the largest city in their country and being on the council of three, had made him a nearly invincible person in every one’s eyes.                                                               

The sound of the front door opening and soft footsteps on grass brought Natalia’s attention back onto the front of the house. Gilbert might not be there to greet them, but striding up through the lawn was a tired looking Elizabeta. Gilberts wife.

Alfred tipped his hat at her and Natalia nodded at her in greeting. Natalia could tell that neither Alfred nor herself really knew what to say to Elizabeta. Thankfully Elizabeta spoke first.

“Afternoon Leader Alfred, and to you as well Natalia.”

“Afternoon Elizabeta. I hope you received Tri Leader Arthur’s letter, and that it isn’t too much of a bother us being here to look around.” Alfred spoke casually, but slightly to casual in Natalia’s opinion. His tone made it sound more like they were going to look around for was something none important, like a lost dog, not to look around for hints of a disappearance.

Elizabeta nodded, and that was when Natalia noticed that she had tied her usually free flowing hair into a tight bun on the back of her head, letting only a few strands and her bangs be free. It made Elizabeta look more… older.

“I got Tri leader Arthur’s letter, and it’s not a bother. If you can potentially find something- anything- then I don’t care.” Elizabeta opened the yard gate and gestured for them to follow her. “Come in, and close the gate behind you please Natalia.”

……………….

Elizabeta lead them through the house into the attic, where Gilberts leader study was. It was finely furnished, with plump chairs and a well-crafted desk, but the walls weren’t painted and were the natural dull gray of stone. Papers were stacked neatly on the desk, and the look of slight wear on the furniture gave the first impression that it was used regularly, but then you looked closer and the thin layer of dust that coated everything reminded you that it hadn’t been used in two months.

“Sorry about the dust, I… I haven’t been able to come up here and clean. Its... well- I just haven’t been able to.”

Elizabeta voice sounded strained, and when Natalia looked at her she could clearly see Elizabeta’s eyes were filled with unshed tears.

“It’s all right Elizabeta, we can work around dust! We don’t however, want you to work around us. We know your schedule is filled, and don’t want to be any more of a bother then we already are, so please Elizabeta, go continue your work you were doing before we came.”

Alfred’s voice was gentle, and Natalia felt was once again reminded of how observant Alfred could be. He obviously saw the tears in Elizabeta’s eyes just as Natalia had, the study was clearly a hard place for her to be in, and so he gave Elizabeta a clean excuse to leave it.

Elizabeta nodded, clearly not in a rush to stay in the study and was grateful for Alfred’s excuse.

“You’re right, I’ll leave you two to look. And please-” Elizabeta reached out and grabbed Natalia’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “Please tell me if you find _anything_.” Looking into Elizabeta’s green eyes, Natalia saw the wall Elizabeta put up to hide her pain crumple for a brief moment, and she saw the raw pain and anguish that Elizabeta was hiding fill her eyes. Natalia nodded and placed her own hand atop Elizabeta’s.

“I will.”

Elizabeta gave her a sad smile, and Natalia realized Elizabeta didn’t think they would find anything. No one else had over the past two months, and she was doubting anyone would. Her hopes of finding Gilbert were getting slimmer every day, and know she just wanted some sort of closure.

Briefly squeezing Natalia’s arm again, Elizabeta let go and nodded to Alfred, and then swept out of the room, the door closing behind her with a resounding click. Natalia stared after her, and felt a rush of emotions overcome her when she realized how similar this was to her own parent’s deaths. Natalia quickly suppressed the memories and emotions, know was not the time. Turning she swept her gaze across the room, a newfound determination swelling inside her. She **_was_** going to give Elizabeta the closure she and her sisters never got. 

 -----------------------------

Two hours later, Natalia hadn’t found anything. Nor had she sensed anything. After combing the study from floor to ceiling and back and finding nothing, her and Alfred resorted to carefully going through both his leader documents and the case files given to him by Arthur. Since the documents on and inside the desk were for leader eyes only, Alfred now sat at it reading document after document, while Natalia sat on the only other chair in the room reading the case files. The photographs taken were horrible, and she could hardly see what was supposed to be evidence as it blended into all the other objects in the photo.

“They should have just drawn the scene. That would have been more reliable then these shoddy photos.” Natalia said bitterly. Alfred nodded.

“That’s what I told Arthur when I first saw them to, and he claims they did have someone sketch it, but he didn’t have it with him. Said he already gave it to the guy whose supposed to help us.”

Natalia looked up at that, her brow creased in confusion. She had forgotten all about this mysterious man who was supposed to be here.

“I forgot about him. Where is he? I doubt he would have found anything we already didn’t, but more help would have been useful.”

Alfred only nodded, his attention back on the documents. Natalia stretched out her arms above her head, muscles cramped from the hour she had been bent over the case files. The air in the study was getting stuffy, and Natalia looked towards the window facing the back of the house.

“I’m going to open the window.”

She was already standing up, and Alfred glanced up.

“Good idea, the air is getting too heavy in here.”

She forced the window open with ease, though she did note that it was a peculiar window that slide upwards instead of opening like a cabinet. She was about to voice this oddity to Alfred, when she felt it. A hint of… something, left on the window. Natalia’s eyes scoured the bottom of the window she lifted upwards while her hands ran across it. There was a trace of it there, but it wasn’t where the main source of magic was coming from. A breeze wafted through the window and brought the… scent (Natalia wasn’t sure how else to describe it) up to her. Looking down Natalia immediately realized the magic was being drifted to her from the sill of the window. Her hands flew to touch the spot where the magic was coming from, and that was when Alfred’s incredibly confused voice called out to her.

“What in the world are you doing Natalia? Are you trying to kill a fly or something?”

Whipping around, her hands not leaving the magic spot, Natalia faced Alfred, her eyes triumphant.

“I’ve found something.”

Immediately Alfred was out of his seat,

“Where? Is it magic?”

When he came to the window he squinted down.

“I don’t see anything.”

“Of course you don’t! You can’t sense magic like I can!”

 Natalia rolled her eyes at him, but quickly moved onto the more important issue at hand. Lifting up on her hands so Alfred could see, Natalia saw the slight haze that was left by magic forming a shape that she couldn’t quite make out.

“It’s here. Something magic was on the window sill. I.. I don’t know what it is exactly yet. But I know it’s there.”

Alfred squinted harder, trying his best to see what Natalia was seeing.

“What does it look like? I remember you once told me that it sometimes forms shapes.” Natalia nodded to Alfred’s question.

“It is in a shape but… I can’t tell what shape it’s in.”

“Perhaps we should wait on Arthur’s acquaintance, he’s apparently well studied in magic residue and might know what this is.”

Natalia scowled, she hated that she couldn’t figure out what it was, and she hated even more that this mysterious man wasn’t here yet.

“When is he going to get here exactly? We can’t wait all day for him to-“

A knock echoed throughout the house and interrupted Natalia. In almost unison, Alfred and Natalia both spun around and ran toward the front facing window, trying desperately to see who was knocking before they came in. As Natalia shoved Alfred more to the side so she could get a better look, Natalia had a intrusive thought of nostalgia, her and Alfred used to do exactly what they were doing when they were kids. Someone would come to either his house or her house and they would scramble to see who would be able to see the guest without being caught first. Little 12 year old Natalia was always sour that her and Alfred tied more often then not.

 

Forcing herself back into the present, Natalia realized with disappointment they were too late, Elizabeta had already let the guest in.

“Shoot, none of us won.” Natalia could have sworn she heard that under Alfred’s breath as she turned away from the window. But surely it was just her imagination.

“Hmph, well hopefully that is our mystery person.”

Natalia walked over to where she had been seating before and scooped the case files off the chair and organized them again as she spoke.

“He’s kept us waiting too long in my opinion, and it’s about time he shows himself.”

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs to the study reached their ears and they both turned to face the door as it swung open. Natalia’s first thoughts were that the stairs were climbed awfully fast. Her second thought wasn’t really a thought, more the overwhelming feeling of magic that filled the room as a man stepped into it.                                                                      

 He wasn’t very tall, only 3 or 4 inches taller than her at least, and he was dressed in a full length coat that was double buttoned and purple. She couldn’t see what he was wearing beneath the coat, only that he was wearing black pants and boots. His posture wasn't suspicious, but the strong scent of magic on him was enough to make Natalia more than weary around him.

Alfred stepped up to him and thrust out his hand, a friendly smile on his face.

“You must be Arthur’s acquaintance! I’m Alfred Jones, and this is-”

“Natalia.”

“Right, she’s Natalia, the woman who can sense magic.”

The man looked over at her when she interrupted Alfred to say her own name, and threw her a smile, Natalia scowled in return. She didn’t trust him. In her experience, people with unordinary eyes should earn trust, not expect it. And his eyes were such an intense and deep color of red that it made Gilbert’s bright red eyes seem normal.

“Nice to meet you! My names Vladimir, but please call me Vlad.”

Alfred started to speak, but Natalia cut him off.

“You didn’t tell us your last name. We don’t know anything about you and yet are supposed to trust you, the least you could do is give us your last name. In my experience people who don’t give their last name is always someone with something to hide.”

Her voice was hard, but Vladimir didn’t seem bothered by it. In fact, he just looked at Natalia and gave her a sly smile.

“Fair logic Natalia, but you didn’t give me your last name either. Perhaps we both have something to hide?”

Natalia’s face flushed slightly, and her scowl turned into a glare as his words struck a cord. Before she could open her mouth and retaliate, Alfred stepped forward between them

“Enough of this! Come on guys, we aren’t here to argue about whether we should trust each other or not, we are here to try and solve what happened to Gilbert.”

Natalia nodded her head, feeling slightly ashamed. It wasn’t time to let her own thoughts interfere. Vladimir nodded as well.

“Of course. So, have you found any evidence of magic yet?”

Natalia nodded.

“Yes, I went to the window to open it and found traces of residue magic over there.”

Vladimir turned and walked to the window to examine it, and Natalia and Alfred followed.

“Natalia said it was in the shape of something but she didn’t know what.”

“It’s not that I didn’t know what it is, just that that I couldn’t quite place what it was.”

She didn’t like how Alfred phrased it. She didn’t like feeling as if she couldn’t do something or she didn’t know it, and she was certain she did know it just couldn’t quite tell. The feeling grew bigger however, as Vladimir looked at the remaining magic for barely even a minute before he knew what it was.

 

“Bird talons. That's what these are.”

Natalia immediately squinted down and tried to make out the talon marks for herself. She could see it now, but it was incredibly faint.

“How did you even see that? It's barely even visible, how did you figure out it was talons so quickly?”

Vladimir grinned cheekily at her, revealing his canine teeth to be longer and pointer then the rest. That only made Natalia distrust him even more.

“I've seen a lot of talon marks in my time, let's just say that.”

Turning away from the window, he rubbed his gloved hands together.

“This does help considerably with the case, as it proves that someone with magic did come in here.”

Natalia looked at Alfred, he was beaming with excitement.

“That's great! So we know can make an educated guess that magic users did indeed take Gilbert!”

Vladimir nodded, but Natalia wasn't so convinced. Stepping forward, she voiced her doubt.

“Wait a minute, how can this confirm he was taken by magic? It just shows the sign that someone with magic did touch the window sill in a bird form, but that doesn't prove they took Gilbert.” Natalia folded her arms across her chest. “And if they came in through the window, then how did they take Gilbert out? Could they have turned him into something, and if they did we need to find evidence that it did happen.”

Vladimir nodded, his strawberry blond hair falling around his face as he did so.

“Fair point. And they could have easily turned him into something easy for them to carry, such as a flower or a beetle.”

 Alfred shifted his weight from his right leg to his left, turning to face Vladimir and Natalia both, forming a triangular shape between them all.

“Wait- so you're telling me that they could have turned Gilbert into literally anything? Like, a spec of dust? How in the world would ANYONE be able to find him then?!”

Natalia sucked in a breath, she hadn't thought of that. How would they be able to find Gilbert if he could be anything?

“No, that can't be possible. Magic has some sort of boundary that prevents it from doing something like that surely.”

Vladimir nodded at Natalia’s words. He was studying her, and Natalia scowl returned.

“She's right, magic does have boundaries. And to turn someone into something like a spec of dust would be pushing far beyond the bound. No, Gilbert had to be turned into something…” Vladimir took a step closer to Natalia and plucked a squirming beetle from her sleeve. “It has to be something alive.”

Natalia stared at the beetle squirming in his hand, both of them staring at it: Vladimir with curiosity and Natalia with confusion. Alfred coughed uncomfortably.

“Hey uh, that isn't… Gilbert is it?”

“No.”

Vladimir and Natalia said no at the same time, and their eyes quickly flickered at and looked at each other, Vladimir grinned at her.

“You're better then Arthur gave you credit for Natalia.” Natalia wasn't sure what to say to that, so just nodded. Turning back to Alfred, Vladimir gestured toward the beetle in his hand.

“This little creature isn't Gilbert no,  no sign of magic being used on him. But, this little guy can be of use.”

Her eyebrows knotted together in confusion.

“How is that?”

Vladimir turned and looked Natalia over, focusing on the confused look on her face. He glanced at Alfred, a question on his face. Alfred shook his head.

“I haven't told her yet, didn't think it was my place.”

The confusion was now burning into searing curiosity in Natalia’s gut and she stepped forward.

“Haven't told me what.”

It wasn't a question.

Vladimir stuck the beetle in his coat pocket.

“I'll tell you later, but right now we need to head back to Arthur's place. He has something we need.”

That did little to answer, only cause more questions.

The ride to Arthur's house was quicker the Natalia had expected. The usual ride from Beilschmidt to York took almost two days, yet they arrived in York the next day. Natalia figured something weird was going on, and it had all to do with the mysterious Vladimir. He seemed normal, cheerful and liked to laugh, him and Alfred got along pretty well. But despite that, Natalia could sense something was off. He was far to cheery, even compared to the overly cheerful Alfred, Natalia didn't trust him. She didn't voice these concerns of hers with Alfred however, she knew Alfred would insist on trusting him purely cause Arthur told him to. The two may argue a lot, but Alfred looked up to Arthur as the older brother he never had.

Instead of getting the annoying attempt of reassurance from Alfred, Natalia chose to keep a close eye on Vladimir.

As they neared York’s gates, Natalia noticed a slight shift in Vladimir. He sat up a little straighter in his saddle, and his hands kept twirling the reins. That was the change Natalia was able to see, but as they took off their gloves to show their hands to the guard, Natalia could have sworn she saw Vladimir’s fingernails shift shape into pointed claws. She blinked before she could register it however, and when she looked again his nails were completely normal.

After passing the inspection, the ride to Arthur's house should have been fairly simple, as it was straight ahead down the main road. Vladimir however, guided his horse left, and gestured for them to follow. Following close behind him, Natalia stared intently at the back of his head.

“If you want to stare at me Natalia, I will gladly turn around. My face is much more appealing than the back of my head I assure you.”

Vladimir sounded amused, and when he turned his head slightly to look at her he had a wide grin on his face.

“I’d rather look at the back of your head, I much prefer it to your face.”

It wasn't one of her best comebacks, Natalia would admit, but it did the job, and Vladimir turned back forward with a shrug.

“If you say so, I have been told that my locks are quite a joy to look at.”

Natalia scowled and stared everywhere but at Vlad for the rest of the ride.

They rode into the residential part of York, further confusing Natalia. Most leaders houses were either overlooking the village or right on the main road, she hadn't heard of a single leader- especially one of the Tri leaders- living in residential. What confused her most of all was that she had visited Arthur's home before, and could have sworn it was on the main road.

“Where exactly are we going. I thought Arthur's house was on the main road.”

Vladimir nodded in front of her.

“It is, but we are going to… well I suppose you could call it his second home.”

Natalia's eyebrows rose.

“A second home in his own village? That is highly peculiar.”

“Not for Arthur. He's always liked having a second home.”

Vladimir didn't say anything else, so Natalia decided not to pursue any further, despite how intriguing what Vladimir just said was. It implied quite a bit, that Vladimir has known Arthur for a long time and that Arthur has always had a second home wherever he's lived, but Natalia had a feeling that if she asked either the first question, Vladimir would turn it into her being interested in him, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with that. The second question would break one of the most unspoken rules of their country: you never ask someone who they were before you knew them.

Vladimir pulled his horse to a stop in front of a small round cottage. It was made of oak wood logs and the roof was made of woven reaves designed to keep rain out. Looking at Alfred dismounting his horse, Natalia raised her eyebrow at him from her saddle.

“This is his second home? It's very small.”

Alfred nodded, not fazed by the house at all. Clearly everyone but Natalia had been here before.

“Yep it's his second house! And it's not small, it's actually quite big for a common house! Come inside and you'll see!”

Natalia dismounted her horse and walked towards Vladimir, who was unlocking the door with a key he had pulled from a breast pocket. Raising an eyebrow, Natalia met Vladimir’s eyes. He put his hands up and shrugged.

 

“What? He gave me a key, I'm going to use it.”

Rolling her eyes, Natalia pushed passed him and into the house.


	2. Vladimir and Arthur make a Potion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2nd Chapter done!
> 
> ////Cross posted to Tumblr----> http://vixenofthemist.tumblr.com/post/161994955604/magic-comes-with-a-price-chapter-2

Arthur wasn’t home. Of course he wasn’t, he was a Tri Leader, they should have expected him to not be at his second home during a weekday. Tri Leaders oversaw the towns and villages in their designated area and all the leaders reported back to one of them. Arthur definitely didn’t have the time to be here during the day, maybe not even the night. Vladimir showed them to a small sitting room where he invited them to get comfortable and read any book on the shelf while he sent a message to Arthur to let him know they were at his house. Natalia didn’t know how he was going to do that exactly, but he came back from the kitchen before Natalia could decide whether to follow him and make sure he wasn’t doing anything suspicious.

Vladimir strode through the doorway and stretched.

“All right, Arthur knows we are here so he should open up time for us. In the meanwhile, let’s go over what we know.”

Vladimir settled himself onto a plush chair in front of the coffee table between Natalia and Alfred, both sitting on the couch. He reached into his large coat pockets and pulled out a pile of folded papers and unfolded them before placing them on the coffee table.

“These are the papers that Arthur gave me detailing what was found the night of his disappearance.”

Natalia grabbed the first page while Alfred read over her shoulder.

“Signs of a struggle are evident, but not enough to conclude what took place. Books that had been placed neatly by Elizaveta, Gilbert Beilschmidt’s wife, on the window seat in the front had been thrown haphazardly towards the back of the room. There was no sign of what exactly caused him to do this except for the open back window and a dust like pile near his desk. Elizaveta identified the dust as being in the same place as a now gone tall glass vase but was unable to explain how it turned into such a fine powder. The logical conclusion at first was that an assailant climbed the back of the house and into the window that Gilbert would have been facing away from while he worked, but that theory has no ending as there were no sign of tracks in the wet mud or mud on side of the house despite the heavy rain. The only noise heard by Elizaveta that night was the sound of a faint pecking noise that briefly woke Elizaveta up from her sleep, but birds had taken to pecking on windows at night so Elizaveta thought nothing of it and went back to her rest. The next morning when she awoke Gilbert never came to bed and when she went to the office and found the mess and him missing.

Since the writing of this report, no further evidence has been found.”

The rest of the papers were more information on the already given evidence and a sketch of the study.

Natalia leaned back as Alfred took the papers from her to read better. She folded her arms and looked at Vladimir, who had been watching her.

“So the magic we found on the window sill connects all the evidence doesn’t it.”

Vladimir nodded.

“Pretty much. And as soon as Arthur comes we can start a trail towards the culprit.”

Natalia raised her eyebrows while Alfred asked,

“How are we going to do that exactly? I guess it has something to do with the beetle?”

Nodding, Vladimir patted the pocket with the beetle inside.

“In a way, yes. Arthur will know exactly how it works and can explain it better than I could. That sort kind of finding magic isn’t my specialty.”

Natalia, who had turned to look out the window behind them, turned fast with her platinum hair flying in whirl around her and smacking Alfred in the face.

“What does that mean?!”

Alfred held a hand over his left eye, which Natalia’s hair had prodded, and lifted a hand.

“Natalia, what you’re about to hear will be a little shocking and I- no we- need you to not freak out and think rationally.”

Her glare pierced him.

“Who are you to tell me to think rationally.” She snapped. Turning her glare to Vladimir, who had his head tilted to the side and was studying her.

“What did- “

“No need to repeat yourself Natalia, the answer is really simple. I can use magic.”

He said it casually, but it had a slight hint of it being forced, and Natalia was sure she was the only one who picked up on it.  

That didn’t stop her from folding her arms and crossing her legs, her expression turning stony.

“Magic. As in you can do more than just sense it. Is that right.”

Vladimir nodded.

“Yep.”

He held up his hand as Natalia and Alfred both opened their mouths.

“Is that going to be a problem Natalia? Cause if it is, I’m afraid you can’t be on this team.”

Natalia snapped her mouth shut. Vladimir leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him, his red eyes filled with an intenseness that never left Natalia’s own eyes.

“I don’t know what happened to make you distrust magic users, but we can’t have that type of judgment clouding your vision on this search.”

Natalia bristled, her hands clenched so tightly the knuckles were starch white.

“Why should that matter? We are going after criminals, why would it be bad if my “clouded judgment” as you say, made me view them as such?”

“You have to understand Natalia that since we are dealing with Magic users, the chance of them being from Cigam is great.” Vladimir clenched his hands together tighter in a miniscule movement. “And Cigam… Cigam treats its people differently from here. If you can use magic, you’re forced to do whatever royalty wants, you don’t have a choice. So even though the magic users did do something criminal, that doesn’t mean they want to be. And when we catch up to them we need to judge them on character and how they really are, not just on what they’ve done. Then on that, we will decide their punishment. And they will be punished, the magnitude of it depends on their own willingness to do what they did.”

Silence. Vladimir took in a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly, before opening them and his gaze burned into Natalia.

“Tell me Natalia, and answer me honestly, do you think this county’s law against magic users is just?”

Natalia’s breath caught. She didn’t have to answer this, she had no obligation to go along with Vladimir, she was only here because Alfred asked her to be. She had no real reason to answer the question he posed, no reason to start questioning the traditions that she was raised on just because some handsome man with mysterious eyes asked her to. She didn’t need to trust this magic user. Memories flashed through Natalia’s mind, of her parents who were killed mysteriously by magic users, of the pain and torture her older siblings and herself suffered because of it, her mother kneeling in front of her and assuring her that magic wasn’t to be feared but to fear the intent behind it. After that memory, more memories flooded Natalia’s thoughts. Her mother calmly explaining that the things Natalia sees that others don’t isn’t a curse, but a gift. Her father gently placing her on his knee but his voice was strict as he told her to keep her gift a secret. A scene that Natalia had forcefully repressed for years appeared in her mind, and a detail she never noticed before caught her eye, and was the final piece that Natalia needed to make her decision. She exhaled,

“… I think it’s a little flawed. You should have to do something drastic and proven you are a threat against your home before you are kicked out, and I think the branding of the hand is fair in that case as well.”

Natalia sat up straighter, her stare matching Vladimir’s in intensity.

“When you heard I was a magic user, what first went through your head?”

“I thought… that I should have figured it out.” Vladimir raised his eyebrows. “You seep magic as if it air, and I naively assumed it just meant you were more in tune in sensing magic then I was.”

A corner of Vladimir’s mouth twitched.

“Well, you weren’t wrong.” The intensity left his deep eyes and was replaced with a twinkle. “Is there anything else you thought that we should know about?” Natalia shook her head, and Vladimir clapped his hands together in a loud noise that made Natalia flinch slightly and Alfred jump. “Good! We don’t have to worry about that anymore then! Good to know we can trust you on this Natalia, I really would have missed your glare on the back of my head if we had to kick you out!”

Annoyance sprouted in Natalia and she had opened her lips to snark back at him, but the sound of the front door opening interrupted her. Alfred and her almost turned in unison to look as Arthur stepped through the front door. He locked the door behind him then turned and scowled at Vladimir lounging on the chair.

“Always lock the door behind you Vladimir. Honestly, the respect of safety you show in others homes is atrocious.”

Vladimir waved a hand lazily in greeting.

“Hey Arthur, glad you could take time out of your busy schedule to include little ol’ me.”

His response was an eyeroll from Arthur. Striding into the sitting room, Arthur took off his coat, gloves, and hat on as he walked and thoughtlessly placing them onto a rack. His gaze shifted to Natalia and Alfred and he nodded his head to each of them.

“Natalia, glad to see you were able to join us. Alfred, glad to see you survived the Ruse mansion in one piece.”

Natalia nodded and did a modified seating down curtsy. Alfred grinned.

“Of course I survived, the only threat to me there is Natalia, and she values our friendship to much to harm me!” The smoldering glare Natalia sent his way would have frozen someone not used to them in their seats. Alfred, just shifted his mischevious grin towards her and raised his hands straight up.

“Only joking Natalia!...” Her glare dimmed.

“I know for a fact that Ekaterina’s has made a couple recipes that resulted in bed rest for more than a couple people!” He was not able to dodge the cushioned couch pillow as Natalia smothered him with it.

\--

After getting a rundown on what was found, Arthur led them all to a tall bookshelf behind where Vladimir had been sitting. He pulled back a large green book, but it didn't come out all the way and instead tilted onto its edges. A weird whoosh sound came out from the ceiling above, and the entire book case slowly spun to the side to reveal a hidden room. Natalia let her mouth open a little, she hadn't been expecting that. But what was more surprising then the bookcase, was the room behind it.

The walls were lined with shelves, all covered with books and objects that all reeked of magic. In the back of the room was a large cauldron, and beside it a small table covered with vegetation and jars filled with slimy substances. A small round table was to the right of the room, with enough chairs to fit 6 people.

Arthur reached his hand out to Vladimir.

“The beetle Vlad.”

Vladimir handed him the beetle, then looked at Natalia and smiled. He gestured towards the table.

“You and Alfred can sit over there Natalia, me and Arthur will do the magic.”

Natalia felt a desire to see the magic up close, but remembered the danger of it and gladly joined Alfred at the table. She did choose a seat though that gave her a clear view of what they were doing.

Arthur was currently placing the beetle in a mortar and pestle, and telling Vladimir to bring him things off the shelves.

“Over on the right side, row 5 section 9, there should be a jar filled with the dust of the disintegrated vase. Oh, and also over there should be the base ingredients for the spell so grab them to.”

“Is this going to be advanced or basic?”

“Both, if basic doesn't work I'll try advanced.”

Vladimir obviously knew what spell Arthur was talking about, cause he easily found the ingredients Arthur needed. Natalia couldn't identify them all since that part of the room was rather dark, but she did identify a mirror shard and rope. Not the kind of ingredients she was expecting.

“What type of spell is this exactly?” Natalia asked. Arthur didn't look at her but he did answer as he mashed the beetle into bits.

“A tracing spell, I’ll do one to find Gilbert first and see if I can find his location that way, but judging with how well thought out this plan was, it's not likely I'll find him. If they're as smart as they've made themselves seem, they should have put some spells in place to prevent me from doing just that.”

He dumped the beetle remains into the cauldron.

“And then I'll do a more advanced spell to trace the magic back to its user. And then I'll put that enchantment into an object like a necklace or bracelet, that will allow point in the direction of their magic when you tell it to.”

Natalia looked at Alfred, who had an impressed look on his face. Natalia felt it to, she had no idea magic could do that.

Arthur murmured to the cauldron and flames lit underneath. He placed some more stuff into it then turned and looked at Natalia and Alfred.

“This is going to take a while, I suggest you read a book. Feel free to read any book you find interesting in the bookcase. Just don't read any of the books on these shelves.”

Natalia never had the intention to touch any magic infused book. She'll leave the magic to the natural magic users. She didn't go grab a book right away either, instead she watched them work for the first two hours. Observing Arthur in particular to figure out just how he had hidden his magic from her. She could sense it know, but only cause he was choosing to.

How long had she known Arthur? She didn't know him well or to the extent that Alfred did, but she has been around him for years, and she never noticed any trace of magic on him. That bothered her a lot. She always had prided herself on being aware of magic users, being able to sense their magic and see it in them was always reassuring to her, that she could always see them so they could never surprise her. And she hates surprises. But Arthur… he had found a way around her sight. She was determined to find out how.

A shuffling sound, reached her ears, and looking at Alfred she saw him shuffling a card deck. He split it and offered her half, she shrugged and took it. She wasn't finding out anything watching them, she might as well do something else.


	3. The Whisps of Magic

Finally, Arthur and Vladimir where done.  
Natalia had felt a rush of magic flow through the room, and then dissipate into the air. She stopped in the middle of shuffling to look over her shoulder at Vladimir and Arthur, who were huddled around the cauldron and looking into it intensely. Alfred, who didn’t feel anything, stopped once he noticed Natalia get up from her chair and slowly walk towards the cauldron, trying to see what they were looking at. He got up as well, his chair making a loud screeching noise against the floor as he pushed it back. Arthur and Vladimir both jumped and looked over towards both of them, Arthur sent a glare towards Alfred, before he looked back into the cauldron. Vladimir quickly glanced towards Natalia before looking back, and when he didn’t protest her getting closer, Natalia picked up her pace and joined them besides the cauldron.

She hadn’t expected what was inside. She had expected perhaps a swirling image of whoever the magic belonged to, or for the mist to form the shape of them. But none of that was there, instead, a distinct mixture of magic vapors swirled around inside. With every movement, a strand shifted colors between red, white, and an ice blue.  
Natalia looked up, first towards Vladimir and then towards Arthur, they both looked like they understood what that meant, and both had varying degrees of shock on their faces.  
“You’re seeing this to, right Arthur? The red white and light blue?” Vladimir asked, his eyes not leaving the changing vapors. Arthur nodded, his face scrunched into a frown.  
“Yes. This… this is upsetting.”  
Vladimir nodded. “It is… If it means what we think it means.”  
“What does it mean?” Natalia cut in, trying to urge them to share what they knew. But Vladimir only glanced at her before he focused on Arthur.  
“I mean… if it is, this is more than upsetting. Are we sure it’s the right magic? That it matches perfectly?” Vladimir’s hands gripped the lip of the cauldron tightly, his face troubled. Arthur looked unsure.  
“No, there’s no way we can know for sure, unless one of us checked…”  
Natalia leaned forward slightly, to get in their view.  
“Check on what? An inclusion to what’s happening would be nice.”  
Arthur looked at her and nodded slowly, his hand running through his hair as he did.  
“Yes, right. Sorry, we got ahead of ourselves there.”  
“It’s fine, but what’s troubling?” Alfred asked, walking up and looking into the cauldron himself. “The vapors don’t look any different from regular white-ish gray smoke, is that’s what’s troubling?”  
Shaking his head, Vladimir answered Alfred.  
“No, the smoke is colored for us, since we can see magic. Speaking of which,” He turned and addressed Natalia. “What colors are the smoke for you?”  
Natalia looked back into the cauldron to make sure it hadn’t changed before answering.  
“It’s red, white, and an ice blue. What does that mean?”  
Vladimir took a sharp intake of breath, and looked at Arthur, who had closed his eyes and were rubbing them with one hand.  
“She sees it the same as us… That’s a pretty solid reason to assume that it’s the magic we think it is.”  
“Yeah…”  
Arthur straightened up, and seemed to go right into business. He looked at Natalia and Alfred, and talked to them directly with no vagueness finally.  
“You two must be confused, apologies, we should have clued you in earlier.”  
“It’s fine, what does the smoke mean?” Natalia asked, she was starting to get irate and was ready for some answers. “It shows the person who took Gilbert’s magic, right?”  
Arthur’s voice rang with a hint of solemnness to it as he nodded.  
“Yes, and we know exactly the person this magic belongs to.”

  
\---

  
Wind blew into the bakery as the door jingled open, letting in the sharp draft before the door closed behind the customer. Halle Steilsson casually looked over at the costumer from her place on a barstool near the window, but when she recognized the person as a costumer, she looked back to the table, and at the sheets of paper her little brother was writing on. She tilted her head, trying to see what he was working on, but he shifted to block her view for the 5th time in ten minutes. Giving up, Halle turned to survey what was happening in Køhler bakery. There were a couple customers, most of them mingling about looking at the food while two had already decided what they wanted and were waiting impatiently in line at the counter. Her ice blue eye’s drifted towards the door.  
Mathias hadn’t come back yet, he had left maybe ten minutes ago when one of Berwald’s people had come in to ask for his help, forcing him to leave the shop in a hurry. He had only just managed to catch Halle and Emil on the street to ask them to watch the bakery while he was out. He had promised he would only be gone five minutes, and to not worry ringing anyone up, just to be in there in case someone tried robbing the place. Halle leaned against her palm and looked out the window with every intent to listen to Mathias and just be watching the shop, but then a couple moments past and he still wasn’t back. Three more customers finished shopping and were waiting to finalize their purchase, and some were starting to complain.  
“Tch, where is that man?! Off doing whatever probably. He’s so irresponsible…”  
“Do we really have to wait? The food will go cold!”  
“This food isn’t even good enough to wait for! If he doesn’t come back in a minute, I’m leaving this on the counter and going!”  
Halle withheld a sigh, before placing both hands on the table and turning to look at the line.  
“Are you all in line?”  
The ones at the front jumped, and whirled around to look at her while one person in the back answered.  
“Of course we are! What does it look like we are doing!”  
“Standing.” Halle stood up and started walking towards the counter. “And complaining about a man whose been thrown in charge of the leader’s business while he’s gone. Much more important work than bread becoming colder in here rather than outside, wouldn’t you think?”  
Halle couldn’t keep the dryness out of her voice, what they had complained about had just bothered her. She lifted the small section of counter that allowed her to pass behind it, and turned to stand in front of the line. The lady standing in front looked quite upset. Halle elegantly reached one hand out for the product, while her other reached under the counter into a nook where Mathias kept the list of how much everything cost.  
“I’ll check out what you have, so you won’t have to wait.”  
The lady raised her eyebrows, they were very over plucked and shaped in such a way that she always looked rather cross.  
“Why should I trust you?! You were just sitting by the window a minute ago, what if you just make off with the money for yourself? You certainly look poor enough to do so!” She was incredibly haughty. Her eyes glanced down at Halle’s less then expensive dress and sniffed. It was a very worn dress at the bottom, and the cuffs were unraveling at the end of the long sleeves, as was the neckline. And it was made of a rough cotton that no person with any amount of wealth would wear. The undershirt she wore beneath it was in much better condition, but the lady couldn’t see it as Halle was wearing her shawl and thin scarf. Halle saw Emil stiffen and turn slightly towards them, he was dressed in very fine clothes, but she opted not to notice him.  
Halle raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn’t have to say anything as a man with a thick accent behind the lady spoke up.  
“She ain’t a random person Haugen! She’s the women always around Mathias, I’m sure you’ve heard of her. It’s your granddaughter Simone who’s always complainin about her ain’t she? She was probably asked to run the shop while he’s gone. Now for the love of all things windy just buy your bread so we all can!”  
The lady left quickly after that, and soon everyone in the line was checked out and gone. But more people had come into the shop, and since Mathias wasn’t back yet, Halle just stayed behind the counter. Half an hour passed and Mathias still wasn’t back, it was nearing noon when there was a rush of customers, and Halle didn’t particularly want to deal with any of them, but she didn’t have much of a choice did she?  
Word seemed to spread that Halle was running the bakery, and as most people in the town had never talked to her, some seemed to see this as an opportunity to do so. They would come in eagerly, buy one item, then attempt to talk with her. Halle wasn’t rude, but she wasn’t exactly talkative to them either. She mostly hummed or nodded in response to questions, or ignored them entirely. She did not need people taking notice of her or thinking she was friendly. In fact, due to some… recent events, it was the last thing she needed.  
There was only one question that stuck out in her mind, and it was after two hours had passed and noon was thirty minutes away. An old lady had come in to buy some bread and biscuits, and she had asked the one question Halle felt compelled to answer.  
“My, that’s a fine hairclip you’ve got there dear, where ever did you get it?”  
She could have lied, easily said it was a family heirloom or her mother had bought it for her before she died. Halle didn’t need the rumors that would surely come from the other customer’s that were close enough to hear and were listening to try and catch anything about the mysterious Halle Steilsson who just walked into the village one day and stayed. Who lived on the edge of town and raised a small group of livestock that produced the best milk and eggs. It would have been easy to lie about anything else, but… she just couldn’t.  
Instead, she raised her hand gently and ran her slender fingers across the edge of the silver cross pin that held back her flowing bangs. The hint of a smile touched her lips and her voice turned soft.  
“Mathias Køhler bought it for me for my eighteenth birthday.” Halle caught herself. “He and my little brother did. They said my bangs were getting out of hand, and since I refused to get a haircut they insisted on buying me this instead.” Her hand fell back down to the counter and she found the cost of the old women’s purchase. “That will be 20 copper pieces.”  
Halle held out her hand as usual, and the old women dropped the copper pieces into her hand. One. By. One. Halle had found this frustrating, but then the old women dropped the last one on the counter, and placed it into Halle’s hand.  
A shock went into Halle’s hand, and her eyes widened. Her fingers clenched over the copper pieces, and her gaze bore into the old women. The old women looked at her puzzled.  
“Are you alright darling? You look odd?”  
Halle forced herself to relax. It was nothing, hands hurt all the time, this was just a coincidence.  
“Yes, I’m fine, my hand just cramped up is all. Enjoy your purchase.”  
And the old women left. Halle watched her go with unease settling in her, but she forced herself to focus on helping the next customer rather than focus on the fear curdling in her stomach.  
\--

Four hours later, and 10 minutes after the last of the noon rush had left, did Mathias run into the bakery. He was out of breath despite the cold and wind, and Halle guessed he ran here from wherever he had been. It couldn’t have been Berwald’s house, that was only a store down. Mathias looked absolutely panicked.  
When he saw Halle standing behind the counter, he sagged with relief and the panicked look left him. He took a couple long strides and was at the counter.  
“Halle, thank you so much! I’m sorry, I know I said I would be back in five, but they kept bringing me stuff and more stuff to do that I couldn’t get away!” He grabbed Halle’s hands into his own to show his gratitude.  
“Really Halle, thank you! You took care of a half day of work for me and that's so amazing! Thank you!”  
Halle gently removed her hands from his as she spoke.  
“You're welcome, it wasn't hard. There was more people then I thought it would be, but that's it.”  
She walked back to the front of the counter to stand at the table Emil was at, and motioned for Mathias to come over with a wave.  
“You need a break, come sit down. I'll close the shop so no one comes in so you can have a breather.” He shook his head.  
“No don't worry about me, I'm fine to start working! Besides, Timo said he’d be over to help with making the dinner foods, and I need to make sure everything's cleaned up for that and start counting the money.”  
He started moving forward, towards the back of the counter and the archway behind it that lead into the kitchen. Halle stopped a sigh from passing her lips, it would be no used to argue with him, he'd never admit he's tired. But the leader stuff wore him out, Halle knew. He had told her once when she'd found him drunk outside a pub and she had to help him home a couple nights ago.  
He confessed to a lot of things. Like how he had dreamed of being a leader as a child and was devastated when the last leader chose Berwald over him. Though he slurred, he conveyed how much he now preferred the happy life of baking to being a leader, and that it wore him down whenever he had to take over for Berwald for whatever reason.  
Mathias might always deny he's tired, but he will never deny Halle when she offers to help. He certainly tried, but Halle was having none of it. She was going to help him.  
He gave in, and first set her to work counting how many produce was left from the morning to judge how many they should make for the dinner rush. Halle had just finished when Timo arrived with his son Peter, and she didn't even have to ask before Emil patted the table in front of him and Peter climbed up on the stool opposite and set down his drawing book. Mathias then asked Halle to count the money while he and Timo started baking. It took longer to count the money, but Halle had still finished before Mathias and Timo did.  
So she went into the kitchen and she started cutting shapes out of dough, and listened to Timo and Mathias’ chatter.  
“I have good news! Berwald sent a letter and he's able to come home now! The meetings with the Tri Leader took longer then they expected, since our town is so far from everyone else there was a lot to inform him on!”  
“Awesome! When's he going to come back? Do they know a day yet?”  
“He said anytime in the next two or three days!”  
And so on went their conversation.  
Almost twenty minutes passed, and Halle noticed Mathias talking less and less, and his contributions becoming more short and he sounded distracted. Halle kept telling herself it wasn't her problem to see what was wrong, but after another ten minutes of him barely, talking besides noises, Halle had to look over at him.  
She did it discreetly through her long bangs, peeking through them towards Mathias.  
He was looking at her across the kitchen, his hands placed against the marble countertop where he had been rolling dough before he stopped, his black apron was covered in flour handprints  
His blue eyes were soft and a strange smile was at his lips as he looked at her warmly, His face emanating an emotion that Halle couldn't place, but it made her chest constrict and stomach dance.  
She adverted her gaze back to what she was doing, cursing at herself as her cheeks started turning a faint shade of red.

Halle and Emil left as the sun set, and Halle’s still couldn’t shake the image of Mathias looking at her and the feelings that came with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi yes, this story is still happening, it will just be updated really slow because I've moved on to another fandom


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